What Do They Eat in Space?

The speed with which the space technology is evolving is incredible. The first manned mission to space happened only about 50 years ago and today we’re already heavily in preparations for a trip to Mars and settling the red planet. The whole world is talking about this ground-breaking journey, and following what the astronauts on the International Space Station are doing.

One of the things that gets the attention of the public is food for astronauts. Not only is food incredibly important for the physical and psychological well-being of the space crew, it is also incredibly complicated to prepare. NASA and other space scientists have been experimenting with astronaut food since the 1960s and food up there still doesn’t taste as good as when eaten on Earth. Why is that? The following infographic tries to answer these questions and show how space food evolved from the first space pioneers to today.

Here you’ll find the 6 stages of the evolution of space food, learn why the introduction of dining tables was important for the crew’s emotional and psychological state, see step by-step how meals are prepared aboard the station and find out why most of the food in space is in strange dehydrated or irradiated state. No wonder the astronauts can’t wait to return home and get a taste of some real homemade food.